If your local GOP organization has descended into a mire of conspiracy theories and religious extremism, you don’t have to give up on politics. There are ways to foster parallel institutions that can eventually influence the local party. It will take some effort, but it won’t demand every moment of your free time or money. …

We find ourselves in a situation in which authentic conservative values can only find expression if certain persistent obstacles are overcome. Our preference for order and dignity have been used against us by extremists. They are playing by a completely different set of rules. It is necessary for reality-based conservatives to think and act “outside the box” if we hope to rescue our relevance. …

The thought occurs: If a set of extremists with very little popular support have built such a powerful influence over the Republican grassroots, what’s to stop you from doing the same thing? Why can’t your campaign challenge these activists directly? …

Extremists captured control of the Republican infrastructure across most of the country by introducing tactics the establishment was unwilling or unprepared to challenge. Rationalists cannot regain their influence in the party by doing the same things we’ve done for years. If we have the courage, the organization, and the will to change the character of the party we can do it. We can create a climate in which Mr. Smith can participate. …

They say that addicts can’t begin to repair their lives until they hit bottom. Waking up in a ditch one afternoon with one shoe, no wallet, and a collection of unexplained injuries, one decides once and for all to get help and live sober, one day at a time. America is the abandoned family waiting for that loser to come home and live up to his obligations.

Let’s muster the courage to turn off Fox News and all say it together: “I am the Republican Party, the Party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan, and I have a problem….”

An organization that always turns right can only move in circles, or more accurately, in an ever tightening spiral. Rule and Ruin aims to explain how the GOP came to be drawn into its accelerating tornado of extremism. …

Federal action to slow foreclosures and hold down interest rates are prolonging this pain while doing nothing to address the real problem of dead equity. Even if employment and incomes increase, these vampire mortgages will undermine the value of homeownership for decades to come, depriving millions of Americans of their best hope for building capital. …

Admittedly, I had assumed that all the umbrage on the far right over the Obama Administration’s new insurance regulations was just one more cynical attempt to manufacture a phony culture war issue out of a mundane example of regulatory overreach.

Boehner’s appearance in Washington with Rastafarian leaders shows a level of authentic concern for religious liberty that I’ve frankly never seen from social conservatives. Perhaps this issue deserves to be taken seriously. According to the Fox News report:

What Romney has accomplished with this “gaffe” is to expose the blinding effects of left’s fascination with poverty. While Democrats kvetch over The Very Poor and far too many Republicans hyperventilate about abortion and gays, the rest of the world is building better schools, freer commerce, and new ways to compete. We need to shift our focus to stay ahead. …

Note: This blog is a not a Houston Chronicle staff blog. The Houston Chronicle is not responsible for the content contained in this blog.